North Korea Continues ‘Charm Offensive’

North Korea’s top nuclear negotiator is heading to Moscow as part of Pyongyang’s latest spurt of diplomatic activity that analysts say is aimed at countering international coordination to pressure it to drop its nuclear program.

Associated Press

North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan

Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, for several years North Korea’s delegate to the multilateral talks process about its atomic weapons program, will meet Russian officials, including Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov on Thursday.

Mr. Kim recently returned from meetings with Chinese officials in Beijing. This was just weeks after a close advisor of Kim Jong Un met with China’s President Xi Jinping and others in the Chinese capital. On Tuesday, another senior official from North Korea’s ruling Worker’s Party headed to Beijing, according to North Korean state media.

Advertisement

The wave of diplomatic visits and North Korean offers of talks with the U.S. and South Korea has been dubbed by some as a “charm offensive” in comparison with a spring of military threats made by the North following its February nuclear test.

“If the U.S. truly wants to achieve peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, it should accept our offer of high-level talks without precondition,” Mr. Pak said, according to his spokesman.

In reality, the two sides remain far apart: The U.S. insists North Korea must first take steps to meet previous commitments to unwind its nuclear program, while North Korea says it will never unilaterally give up its “treasured sword” of nuclear weapons.

While each side holds firm, North Korea still needs to work to prevent an international consensus from building against it, experts say. That has become more urgent after China appears to have adopted a more critical stance toward its long-term ally and has held summit meetings with the leaders of South Korea and the U.S.

North Korea’s strategy is to appeal to relatively sympathetic nations in its efforts to restart dialogue, particularly at six-nation talks about its nuclear program—China’s preferred forum. Those talks, which also involve the U.S., Japan, Russia and South Korea, last convened in 2008.

Analysts say they expect Mr. Kim will be taking a similar approach with Moscow as he and his colleagues have with Beijing.

“If Mr. Kim and the North Korean diplomats are smart enough [in Moscow], they will make some hints at the possibility of denuclearization,” said veteran North Korea watcher Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University in Seoul. “This will be a useful face-saving device for the Russians and Chinese, so they will be able to push for six-party talks more actively.”

“Of course, such hints should not be taken at face value: North Korea has not the slightest desire to surrender its nuclear program,” he added.

The issue of multilateral talks is clearly on the agenda for Mr. Kim tomorrow.